David Simon's HBO Porn Drama 'The Deuce' Adds Two Writers

Novelists Megan Abbott and Lisa Lutz will join George Pelecanos, Richard Price and Simon in the writers' room.

The Deuce is filling out its writers' room.

The upcoming HBO drama from David Simon
has tapped novelists Megan Abbott and Lisa Lutz as new writers on the
series. They'll join current writers George Pelecanos, Richard Price and
Simon, who together penned the pilot.

The project, which was given a series
order in January, stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco and is in
pre-production in New York. It follows the story of the legalization and
subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from
the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, exploring the rough-and-tumble
world that existed there until the rise of HIV, the violence of the
cocaine epidemic and the renewed real estate market all ended the bawdy
turbulence.

Abbott is the Edgar award-winning author
of seven novels, including “Dare Me” and “The Fever.” Her next book,
“You Will Know Me,” comes out in July 2016, and her writing has also
appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Lutz is the New York Times' best-selling
author of nine novels, including this spring’s new thriller “The
Passenger,” “How to Start a Fire,” six novels in the Spellman books
series and “Heads You Lose,” which she co-authored with David Hayward.
She has also written the children's book “How to Negotiate Everything.”

In addition to Simon, Price and Pelecanos, Nina Noble will executive produce alongside Michelle MacLaren (Breaking Bad),
with the latter having directed the pilot but not continuing on with
the series beyond that. Marc Henry Johnson produces. In addition to
starring, Franco will receive an exec producer credit, while Gyllenhaal
also will be credited as a producer.

The Deuce is one of two Simon projects in the works at HBO. The other, an untitled Capitol Hill entry, is still in the pilot stage. The series joins a roster of dramas at the cabler that also includes Game of Thrones, the third and final season of The Leftovers and forthcoming Westworld (which shut down production months ago but is expected to bow this year), as well as period rock drama Vinyl from Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger. Still in the works is 18th-century music entry Virtuosofrom Alan Ball and Elton John.

Kudos to Megan, yet another in the line of writers who show David Simon knows what he's doing, picking novelists to write for long-form TV. I expect a show that will show the topics from a more nuanced and unpredictable perspective, which is what Simon does so well, and he's assembled just the crew of writers to do it.

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About Me

Patricia Abbott is the author of more than 125 stories that have appeared online, in print journals and in various anthologies. She is the author of two print novels CONCRETE ANGEL (2015) and SHOT IN DETROIT (2016)(Polis Books). CONCRETE ANGEL was nominated for an Anthony and Macavity Award in 2016. SHOT IN DETROIT was nominated for an Edgar Award and an Anthony Award in 2017. A collection of her stories I BRING SORROW AND OTHER STORIES OF TRANSGRESSION will appear in 2018.